[CTNiroPHEV]

Hi everyone - I got a new 2019 PHEV this year and was really thrilled with it for the first 600 miles. Then check engine light started coming on. Dealer fixed it, it happened again a day or two later and so at their request we left it with the dealer and got a loaner. And there it stayed. I got an escalation case number after two weeks, when it became clear that they were trying everything and unable to replicate the problem or even understand why it had happened. An engineer from CA came to look at the car. I was getting ready to invoke lemon law when I learned that KMA and engineers in CA told the service folks at the dealer that they deemed the Hybrid Power Control Unit electrically faulty on the Hybrid Starter Generator temperature circuit. They ordered and shipped that part -- allegedly it's now fixed; I collected the car today (a few days shy of three months since I dropped it off). I don't know what error code this problem was. Will report back if there is an issue again - I just wanted to register what happened, since it seems that others have also had this check engine light problem?

 

[jmurphEV]

Hi everyone - I got a new 2019 PHEV this year and was really thrilled with it for the first 600 miles. Then check engine light started coming on. Dealer fixed it, it happened again a day or two later and so at their request we left it with the dealer and got a loaner. And there it stayed. I got an escalation case number after two weeks, when it became clear that they were trying everything and unable to replicate the problem or even understand why it had happened. An engineer from CA came to look at the car. I was getting ready to invoke lemon law when I learned that KMA and engineers in CA told the service folks at the dealer that they deemed the Hybrid Power Control Unit electrically faulty on the Hybrid Starter Generator temperature circuit. They ordered and shipped that part -- allegedly it's now fixed; I collected the car today (a few days shy of three months since I dropped it off). I don't know what error code this problem was. Will report back if there is an issue again - I just wanted to register what happened, since it seems that others have also had this check engine light problem?

I think a couple of people have had similar issues. Hopefully they got it sorted out for you and you'll be good to go from here. Unfortunately with any complicated system such as the Niro's drivetrain if something goes wrong it can take a while to find the cause. Diagnostics are only as good as the sensors and software that they depend on and if some part fails in an unexpected fashion it's tough to diagnose. A dealer tech has exactly zero chance of finding the cause in a case like this because they are limited in what they can check. I'm encouraged that they sent an engineer to look at it and perhaps they learned something for the future.

Good luck with the car and let us know how it goes!

 

[markjosh51]

Hi everyone - I got a new 2019 PHEV this year and was really thrilled with it for the first 600 miles. Then check engine light started coming on. Dealer fixed it, it happened again a day or two later and so at their request we left it with the dealer and got a loaner. And there it stayed. I got an escalation case number after two weeks, when it became clear that they were trying everything and unable to replicate the problem or even understand why it had happened. An engineer from CA came to look at the car. I was getting ready to invoke lemon law when I learned that KMA and engineers in CA told the service folks at the dealer that they deemed the Hybrid Power Control Unit electrically faulty on the Hybrid Starter Generator temperature circuit. They ordered and shipped that part -- allegedly it's now fixed; I collected the car today (a few days shy of three months since I dropped it off). I don't know what error code this problem was. Will report back if there is an issue again - I just wanted to register what happened, since it seems that others have also had this check engine light problem?

Strange because I bought mines new and I already put in 7,000 miles with no problems. I wonder if this problem is only in the plug in. Mines is the regular eco hybrid.

 

[atc98092]

Strange because I bought mines new and I already put in 7,000 miles with no problems. I wonder if this problem is only in the plug in. Mines is the regular eco hybrid.

I passed the one year mark with my PHEV yesterday. I'm at just over 11,000 miles. The only time my car has seen a dealer was the 7500 mile oil change. Since I run in EV mode so much, I really doubt it needed changing. But it's a lease, so I intend to follow the service chart to ensure they don't try to ding me when I return it. The car has been flawless enough that Kia will be a brand I consider for its replacement. I intend to go full EV next time, and Kia/Hyundai will have a new EV out by then, along with the VW ID.4 and who knows what else might be on the market in 2022.

 

[Johnxyz]

I am fascinated that KIA engineers would have to fly across country to look at a car.

Just my take= hook the car up to a laptop and have a group troubleshooting session with the engineering group remoting in and participating. You could even start a Zoom session with the Engineer directing the troubleshooting activity remotely.

I mentioned it once before that Doctors now perform life saving surgeries remotely- for Petes sake we can surely remotely troubleshoot a car . If necessary let the design engineers from KIA in South Korea or the Alabama Manufacturing facility join the Zoom session and have a group training session while troubleshooting the vehicle. Everyone wins- the customers get the best help available immediately- the local technicians get much needed training with the experts - The experts get actual field experience on problems their cars might have and then can implement countermeasures if necessary

 

[jihyungchun]

So I had a very similar issue with my 2018 HEV model. I bought it used with 32k miles but it has lemon title due to some sort of head unit, O2 sensor, and wireless internet problem? The problem occured around 45k miles in about 7 months of ownership

I got in, drove and about a mile down the road all of my active safety system shut off and all types of warning lights were on. Then I noticed that it was also giving me a Hybrid System Warning light. I was only going another mile or so, so I just powered through and noticed that the power steering wasn't completely gone but steering felt weird.
Turned the car on and off few times but still the same issue. Then on my drive back, everything reset and everything was fine for few seconds until it showed similar warnings again. I got home and noticed that the car wasn't charging, and that the EV mode was disabled (meaning that even if I'm in Park, the engine didn't shut off) and I got low battery warning.

I called my local dealer and they told me to tow it to their service center and they'll look at it. That was on Friday, May 15th. I called the next morning and was told they can't replicate the issue, so I can just come pick up the car. I told the manager that I have pictures and videos and after he reviewed it, he told me that the master tech/shop manager needs to review it so I can get a loaner. I spoke with them on Tuesday May 19th and was told they still don't know what the issue is and that they're working with corporate...

Hopefully they'll figure it out soon and I can get my car back soon.

 

[Dr.Bolide]

Hi everyone - I got a new 2019 PHEV this year and was really thrilled with it for the first 600 miles. Then check engine light started coming on. Dealer fixed it, it happened again a day or two later and so at their request we left it with the dealer and got a loaner. And there it stayed. I got an escalation case number after two weeks, when it became clear that they were trying everything and unable to replicate the problem or even understand why it had happened. An engineer from CA came to look at the car. I was getting ready to invoke lemon law when I learned that KMA and engineers in CA told the service folks at the dealer that they deemed the Hybrid Power Control Unit electrically faulty on the Hybrid Starter Generator temperature circuit. They ordered and shipped that part -- allegedly it's now fixed; I collected the car today (a few days shy of three months since I dropped it off). I don't know what error code this problem was. Will report back if there is an issue again - I just wanted to register what happened, since it seems that others have also had this check engine light problem?

Thanks very much for posting this . It looks like we have a similar issue with our 2019 Niro PHEV .

In town we almost exclusively run off the battery and only use hybrid mode on the highway. Car worked flawlessly until a couple of months ago on the freeway, the check engine light came on and we had an "engine control system" error message. Dealer traced it to sensor errors in the emission system, could not find any cause, did a reset and things were fine for a month or so until we took it out on the highway and the same issue came up again.
Error codes were P209600 and P227000.

I'm going to do a printout of your story and take it to the dealer when we drop the car off again for service. It's too bad , because we're crazy about the car in every other way .

Thx,

Craig